Fairytale
by La Fata Aurora
Summary: /AU-Squinoa/ Rinoa Heartilly-Caraway has spent the last twenty-five years of her life sheltered against the obsessive scrutiny of the public, having been born out of ridiculously successful and famous parents. Hiding in small town Winhill was her latest effort to maintain her sanity, only to find out that this piece of heaven might bring her more than what she'd hope for.
1. Chapter 1: So You Two Know Each Other Hu

_**Fairytale**_

By La Fata Aurora

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**Disclaimer: **All standard disclaimers apply. I do not own Squaresoft/Square-Enix

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**Chapter One: So You Know Each Other, Huh?**

It's official: they're lost.

"WHO THE HELL GETS LOST IN WINHILL?!" Rinoa Heartilly-Caraway yelled at nobody in particular, "And with GPS too!"

The angry brunette slapped the stupid GPS device perched over the dashboard of the rented Mini Cooper, the messy splattering of the rain over their windshield not helping either. It has been more or less an hour of driving around the Hyne-forsaken Paget Road, but up until now, she and her friends were still unable to locate that small dirt road that should have taken them to their destination.

"The storm must be creating an interference." Green eyes met hers through the rear view mirror. The irate driver sighed, for she has been thinking of the same thing, "Maybe we should go back to that pub that we keep passing by?"

"_Desperado_…" Blue eyes on the passenger side glittered with humor, "How very fitting, don't you think?"

Rinoa stopped flailing at the GPS. She exhaled sharply at this latest stroke of her luck, "Dammit. Hyne must really hate me!"

"Oh, there, there." Quistis Trepe gave her a friendly squeeze. Chocolate brown eyes met hers, and she smiled helpfully, "It's okay, Rin. Winhill is a small town, I'm sure we're just not looking at the right place."

"Yeah!" Selphie Tilmitt, sitting on the back, was quick to nod. "Or maybe the road got washed out!"

Despondent, Rinoa looked at all her mirrors before maneuvering the car back to the muddy road once more. She was still frowning but not as upset. Truthfully, if there was a silver lining in all this crap, it would be these two women that she considered her best friends.

Born out of Galbadia's wealthiest families, Rinoa, Quistis and Selphie had been shoved into each other's lives due to inevitable circumstances. Heiresses to insurmountable fortunes, it was only logical that they would end up in the same boarding schools. However, unlike the rest of their kind, these three girls luckily found love, loyalty and sisterhood within each other, helping them weather the storms of the past decade. In fact, it was in the name of that same sisterhood that brought them here in Winhill, under the mercy of one literal storm, while trying to regroup from the onslaught of one figurative storm back home.

Out of the three ladies, one could say that Rinoa Heartilly-Caraway was different for the simple fact that her mother, the late Julia Heartilly, was once a high profile singer-composer. In her heyday, she had been the darling of the media, a reputation that she benefited from, even after marrying Rinoa's father, the heir of Galbadia's most politically influential family, the Caraways. However, things made a drastic turn upon Julia's untimely death, when, for some reason, ludicrous rumors of adultery, deceit and murder began to surface, creating a ridiculous soap opera that fed Galbadia's gossip mill for years. Rinoa, then a teenager, was forcefully thrust into the spotlight and became Deling's new, albeit reluctant, past time—the beginning of her nightmare. Eventually, as stories of her broken home began to wane, the media's lenses found itself focusing specifically on her: her schooling, her relationships, even the mismatched color of her socks. Accusations of rebelling, in form of DUI arrests, theft and whatnot were plentiful, only to be replaced by news of an alleged sex tape the next day. It has been years since then, and one could have easily thought that the worst has passed, but with Galbadia's elections in the horizon, Rinoa was once again being painstakingly primed as an easy target by her family's enemies.

"The lights are still open!" Selphie chirped as Rinoa finally slowed the car, now approaching the pub along the curve of the round about. Quistis, being the one closest to the entrance, was appointed the task of braving the rain to ask for directions, much, much to the blonde's dismay.

A few minutes later, Quistis came out of the pub with somebody following her.

"Who in the name of Diablos is that?!" Selphie dipped her head to have a better of the passenger side window, mumbling loudly enough for Rinoa to hear. At the same time, the driver tried to discern a face through the fogged up window. It was futile, but from what little that she could make out from the poor lighting, the stranger was female.

"Hey guys, this is Miss Aerith Gainsborough. Coincidentally, she's the keeper of the cottage that we're renting for the length of our stay. She had the inkling that we'd end up here in Desperado once the road washes out, so she opted to wait for us inside." Quistis was saying as she slipped into the backseat, letting the dark blonde cottage owner occupy her previous one on the front. Aerith gave them a beautifully friendly smile that the two brunettes immediately took a liking on her.

"How do you do?" She nodded delicately, her long ponytailed hair bobbing with droplets of rainwater, "It has actually happened to some of the previous tenants as well, so I thought of waiting inside. This storm is pretty unnatural at this time of the year, so please don't worry about it ruining your stay."

"Oh, thank Hyne!" Rinoa smiled back, peeling the car back to the road. Aerith began giving her directions to an alternative route, which she explained the GPS couldn't have picked up because a good portion of it followed a road that went through the woods bordering the south of town.

"So, do you ladies know a lot about Angel Wings?" Aerith gave each lady an inquisitive look.

"Um well, Quisty was the one who found the cottage through a friend." Rinoa furrowed her brows together, looking at the road, "We saw pictures of it over the internet and I think its really lovely. I think Quisty also mentioned that its owners frequently sublet it when they're not in town?"

Aerith nodded, "Yes. My employers are very busy people, but once in a while, when they feel that they want to get away for a while, they find themselves here in Winhill. Angel Wings is actually their ancestral house; it used to be a manor house back before the Sorceress War."

"Wow! It's that ancient?" Selphie counted with her perfectly manicured fingers, "The last Sorceress War was like five hundred years ago!"

"Four hundred and seventy-five." Quistis corrected her, having obviously done her research. She turned back to Aerith, who nodded in confirmation, "I read in the website that the entire manor was broken into two after a big renovation? So, would that mean that we'd be sharing the cottage with someone else?"

"Oh no, no. Not at all." Aerith assuredly shook her head, comprehending Quistis' line of questioning. She recognized the name Trepe when the reservation was made, and it wasn't the first time that her tenants would be adamant about their privacy. "You see, the family who owns Angel Wings has been very good to me ever since I was young. They were rich-folk, but very generous, and they took me in when the orphanage could no longer keep me. I live at the former East Wing, that's the smaller cottage. So be rest assured about not sharing the place with anyone else but me, the keeper."

Rinoa made a left at the edge of the town. After spotting a marker that Aerith said she'd find, she turned right and drove into a clearing inside the forest.

"The local elders were discussing this storm situation in pub a while ago." Aerith chuckled, receiving inquisitive stares from the other passengers, "Well, like what I said, this storm is quite odd at this time of the year. They were saying that it should pass by tomorrow, tomorrow afternoon the most."

"Were they using shamanic stones like they used to in the past? I've read from somewhere that that is how they used to predict the weather." Selphie asked, scratching the back of her head as if it helped her think.

Aerith laughed, "Well, its true that they used to do that, but right now it's more on relying on how their joints feel."

Everybody giggled. Aerith jutted her index finger when they reached the other side of the forest, "Oh, we're here!"

"Welcome to Angel Wings, everyone!"

* * *

"Dammit!"

"SHHHH!"

"What in Ifrit's Hellhole does that supposed to mean?"

"Shut your trap, Zell!" a man wearing a cowboy hat hissed. He cautiously flicked his purple eyes over the cottage further down the left, heaving a huge sigh of relief when the lights didn't flicker open. "You don't want Aerith finding out we're here, right?"

Zell suddenly had this horrified face and quickly nodded. "Irvine, do you have the key?" He whispered to the cowboy.

"Oh shoot!" the cowboy hat guy, Irvine, groaned. He turned back towards the dirt road and carefully rounded the side of the house where an orange Lamborghini was strategically parked, away from view of the East Wing, "Seriously man. I think the last Zeio Nut Shot got into me too!"

Zell snorted knowingly as he watched Irvine open the passenger door. He took one look at the seemingly lifeless carcass sprawled onto it and smirked.

"Okay. Pockets." Irvine murmured as he searched the sleeping man's pants. It took him a moment before he realized that Zell was snickering behind him, "You're such a disgusting idiot, you know that?"

"Uhuh. Keep going." Zell nodded, crossing his arms together in satisfaction, "I'm telling you, this is Hyne's punishment, Irvine."

Irvine rolled his eyes and shoved a set of keys in his pocket that he found beside the sleeping man's hip. Sighing, he pulled the dozing guy up and unceremoniously tossed him towards Zell's direction.

"Hey!"

"You be quiet! If Aerith finds us here with her _precious little brother_ looking like this, we might as well die a slow painful death while volunteering for the kindergarten!" Irvine snapped as he cautiously closed the car door, before helping Zell with the load of the sleeping man. Zell shuddered at the thought of those beastly little tykes and held their other friend by the waist.

"Fine."

"Yeah. Keep thinking that, and we'd get out of here scot-free!"

"It's not like we kidnapped him or something." Zell mumbled irritably. They rounded the house again and this time, they managed to unlock the door and slip quietly into the darkened house without accident.

Zell was about to flip the lights open when Irvine reached over and slapped his arm away, "What the—?!"

"Seriously, Zell! Are you really _that_ stupid?! Nobody's supposed to be here right now and you open the lights?!"

"It's three o' clock in the morning, man! And plus, I can't see anything—damn!"

Their sleeping friend moaned as Zell randomly shoved him towards something. Irvine sighed, pulling them towards the general direction of what he knew were the stairs. "Come on, just visualize the place with your mind's eye and we'd be fine."

"Oh yeah. Says the guy who almost drove us to our deaths not even an hour ago."

"Just shut up, Zell. If only you would stop yapping and start walking, we'd be out of here sooner."

"Whatever."

They reached the second floor without, once again Thank Hyne, any accident.

"Where should we put him?"

"Oooh, it'll be funny if he wakes up in Laguna's room."

"Zell, inasmuch as I think that very humorous, I still want to keep my head where it is exactly, thank you very much."

Zell had the gall to snicker, "Chicken."

They opened some door at the far end of the hall and fumbled for a bit, shoving their sleeping friend on what they thought was the bed before walking away without wasting another second inside the scene of the crime.

Upon reaching the Lamborghini outside, Irvine was surprised that it was only now that he noticed a Mini Cooper poking out of the garage. He gestured this discovery to Zell, who became a little bit disconcerted as he is.

"Maybe Aerith finally decided to get rid of her bike?" Zell shrugged, slipping into the passenger side, "Man…that's some ugly bike she has. She's doing the world a huge favor by disposing that sight for sore eyes."

Irvine started the car, reversing. He found himself agreeing with Zell. Aerith did have such an ugly bike.

* * *

Rinoa sighed deliciously. She felt so, sooooooo warm and tingly all over, even down to the ends of her tippy-toes that she moaned happily.

Rolling her head face down to the pillow, she caught a musky scent that reminded her of the woods during autumn. She smiled at this, nodding inwardly in approval. A cold draft suddenly seeped under the blanket and she edged closer. _Wait_—

She sniffed, her eyebrows furrowing.

_Fall? Metallic? Acidic? Ewwy? Isn't that_—

_Alcohol?_

She snapped her eyes open.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Garnet, its too ear—"

Pause.

"_Shit!_"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Rinoa screamed, pulling the covers to shield herself and shoving the intruder away at the same time. She gave him a suspicious glance and a second later, she started screaming again, "QUISTY! SEFIE! THERE'S A RAPIST IN MY ROOM!"

"A RAPIST?!" the intruder jumped back. He was so shocked his eyes were threatening to pop out of the sockets, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A RAPIST?! THIS IS MY DAMN ROOM, LADY!"

Rinoa narrowed her eyes, her fists pulling the covers to her chin like a lifeline. It finally hit her how her bedmate looked like, and for a second she permitted herself to feel relief because seriously, what guy who looked like that would have to resort to violence in order to get a girl?

"Aerith said that owners are away!" Rinoa countered loudly, still a little suspicious. Okay, he's cute, hot even—she'd give him that. But what if he's a cute psychotic axe murderer who saw opportunity by way of her opened window? DAMN! She should have listened to Quistis and her constant droning about shutting the windows at night!

Mr. Gorgeous Axe Murderer blinked a few times. He slammed a hand on his forehead as if to stabilize his line of sight, groaning a bit, "Could you cut it out with the yelling? My head feels like its about to explode and you're not helping!"

"Well, excuuuuuuuse me! I'm not the one who had sleazy hands!"

He snorted, "And if I remember it right, you were edging closer to those same sleazy hands."

Rinoa turned red. She hit him with a pillow.

"HEY! Watch it!"

"I WAS DOING IT ON PURPOSE!"

"GOOD! Because if I didn't know better, I would have thought that you were seducing me!"

Rinoa stared at him angrily, following his line of vision. She looked down and saw that her pajama shirt was gaping open.

She hit him with the pillow again. Twice.

Before the intruder could bring himself react, the bedroom door burst open, Quistis and Selphie tumbling in.

"What in the world is going on in here?" Quistis demanded, her eyes falling on the bed. She saw a disheveled and very, very furious Rinoa poised to attack with a pillow, her target fruitlessly shielding himself for another assault. Quistis blinked a couple of times and suddenly found herself at loss of words.

"Well, what do you know…" Selphie murmured in disbelief before blowing out in full force, "You're _that_ actor, aren't you?!"

Mr. Gorgeous winced. _What is with women this morning that they keep yelling at this unHynely hour? _

"Actor?" Rinoa appeared confused. She shot the intruder a scrutinizing look without lowering her fluffy weapon. "What actor?"

Now was Mr. Gorgeous' turn to look confused. He flitted his blue-gray eyes around her heart-shaped face to find any indication of sarcasm there, but he found none. He found himself smiling a tad bit.

"Squall LEONHART!" A panting Aerith appearing on the doorway forestalled Selphie's explanation, and once she found what she was looking for, the very delicate lady that Quistis, Selphie and Rinoa saw last night transformed into a fire breathing Ruby Dragon, very much ready to bite someone's head off "YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO YOUNG MAN!"

Squall sighed.

Great. Yet another woman yelling at him.

"Yes, M'am."

This is going to be a long day.

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A/N: Please tell me what you think! :)


	2. Chapter 2: Playing House

_**Fairytale**_

By La Fata Aurora

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**Chapter Two: Playing House**

Squall sipped on his coffee and decided to fashion his face in his best imitation of a brooding look. Aerith has been pacing across the table for what seems like an hour now, and he knew that if he didn't look as penitent as he should be, he'd be stuck there on the kitchen stool for another hour. He sighed inwardly, shooting his conspirators a mean look. The blonde and the auburn guy at his side looked as sullen as he is.

When Aerith finally decided to stop torturing them with her pacing, she loudly slammed a hand on the table, "EXPLAIN!"

The three grown men panicked like little boys who suddenly found themselves in the Principal's Office.

"Uhm, well you see, Aerith—"

"Shut up, Zell."

"WHY DO YOU KEEP TELLING ME TO SHUT UP?"

Aerith slammed the table again, "E-NOUGH!" Jutting her index finger to Squall, she narrowed her pretty eyes at him so meanly that the brunette felt the hairs on his back stand up, "YOU! Explain this to me right now or so help me Hyne, I would make your lives miserable!"

Zell and Irvine looked at Squall with their most pitiful look. Of course, they were thinking about those beastly kids in the town's kindergarten! Squall felt their expectant looks and felt a chill run up his spine. What the hell did they expect him to do? Hyne, he doesn't even know if he could save himself!

Behold the power of Winhill's 'Delicate Flower'.

"Well?" Aerith crossed her arms intimidatingly. Squall found himself sitting upright, nearly sloshing the contents of his mug on his pants.

"Well you see, Aerith Sis,—" Squall cleared his throat, desperate for something to alleviate her growing irritation.

"That _might _work on Ellone, but you're forgetting that she's thousands of miles away from here. Try again."

Zell couldn't take it anymore.

"Irvinedraggedustogoclubbinga ndwegotdrunkandweweredriving —"

"ZELL!" The cowboy cried in pain. Squall almost felt sorry for him.

Aerith looked dazed for a second, but that was before she managed to decipher Zell's mumbo-jumbo of an explanation, "YOU WHAT?!"

"We were drunk and we were driving?"

Irvine and Squall slapped their hands on their faces. Way to go, fool.

"You dumb jocks! You're not in highschool anymore! How careless can you guys be?!" Aerith erupted and charged towards the other side of the table, whacking each naughty boy on the head. She gave Zell another one for good measure. "And clubbing?! What are you, twelve? And do I WANT to know WHY your clubbing escapade brought you all the way here to Winhill?!"

"No." Squall mumbled. Aerith gave him a good whack. "Oww…"

"Serves you right! Scaring Miss Rinoa like that!"

"She called me a rapist, Aerith!" Squall, finally rediscovering that he had a Y-chromosome, defended himself. "And she kept hitting me too! What is it with you women and hitting men on the head?"

"Oh, I don't know! Maybe we're hoping to send you some common sense by diffusion?" Aerith turned away, then she went back to her initial position on the other side of the table. She started pacing for a bit, before turning back to the boys, "You guys should know better! You should have called me first to check if we had guests! Now Angel Wings' reputation is ruined! Where am I going to get the money for this year's donation?!"

Squall began to open his mouth, but was wise enough to shut it just as fast. His family knew that proceeds from Angel Wings' usually wealthy tenants go straight to Winhill's Orphanage Fund. If their current tenants decide to get a refund due to the disruption of their privacy, Squall himself could shoulder the costs, but he knew too well that Aerith wouldn't like that prospect one bit. He frowned instead.

Someone suddenly pounded at the door. Aerith lifted her eyes and sighed, thinking that it was one of the girls.

"If that's one of the girls, saying that they're leaving, you guys be better prepared for a million hours of community service!"

Aerith left the three men paling to the roots of their hairs.

"Hey Aerith." Rinoa stepped into the cottage dressed in a cream-colored cowl-neck dress that hugged her in all the right places. She was all Miss Congeniality until her chocolate brown eyes found Squall, which was when she turned mean and green like Aerith.

Irvine and Zell saw this with amusement and decided that staying might not be so bad afterall.

The snotty little princess ignored the 'Three Stoogies' by the kitchen, most especially the cutest one in her opinion, because he _dared_ to imply that she liked the fact that he was coping a feel, which SHE DOESN'T, by the way. Okay, that's a semi-lie, but still, he was very disrespectful for pointing that out.

"Umm, my friends and I are about to go—"

The three guys felt dread rushing into their bloodstreams. This is it. One million hours of screaming kids and sticky pudding fingers and a lot of saliva...

"—out and we were wondering if there's a good place to have breakfast around here? Nobody wants to cook so we decided to just get something to eat outside."

_Hallelujah!_

"Seventh Heaven!" Squall almost screamed, Zell and Irvine jumping in action not a second later. The leader of the troop marched forward and grabbed Rinoa by the wrist, dragging her not too gently out of Aerith's door, "Let's go!"

"HEY!" Rinoa exclaimed, yanking her arm back in frustration. When Squall didn't let go, she looked at his friends who were smiling at her as if she just saved them from eternal damnation.

"We'll escort you personally! We know the owners! You might even get some discount!" the tall auburn haired man with a cowboy hat said, "Oh, as you might already know, I'm Irvine Kinneas."

"Zell Dincht!" the blonde one with a tattoo on his face pointed at himself. Rinoa frowned in confusion until she felt Squall let go of her hand.

"Rinoa? What's going on?" Selphie hopped out of the Mini Cooper's back upon seeing Rinoa and her entourage. Her eyes drifted from her friend to Squall and to the two newcomers, which was when her eyes went all wide, sparkly and hopeful, "They're coming to eat breakfast with us?!"

"Selphie, don't encourage them." Rinoa warned but the auburn haired guy hastily overtook her.

"Yes! We would be very honored to escort such beautiful ladies!" Irvine was already opening the Mini Cooper's back door, urging Selphie to step inside. Rinoa watched in abject horror as Selphie happily squealed during reentry, which reminded her of a lamb jumping eagerly into the lion's den. She desperately looked at Quistis for help.

"Rin," Her weary blue eyes peered from the driver's seat, "just let her be. I'm just too hungry to even care."

"But-but we're not gonna fit in the car!" Rinoa lamely argued, "Look! The guys are too tall! The car only seats three people in the back!"

She felt a hand settle on her shoulder and she didn't have to turn back to know who it was.

"Oh yes, _we will_." Squall said with a dangerous look in his eyes. Rinoa stared at him and for some reason she looked back to the cottage where, lo and behold, she found Aerith carefully assessing the situation from the doorway. Rinoa found herself smirking up at him in spite of herself.

"So that's how it is, huh? You are so whipped." Rinoa waltzed away in a more cheerful mood, rounding the hood to get to the passenger seat.

"What did you say?!" Squall can't believe this woman.

"Oh, you heard me." Rinoa nodded as she opened the door. If Squall thought that that was the end of it, he .mistaken.

She imitated the sound of a whip cracking.

* * *

Seventh Heaven is a warm-looking family diner a few shops away from Pub Desperado, owned by the young Strife couple. Townspeople were already buzzing in and out of the place when the loaded Mini Cooper came to a stop in the parking lot, and seeing this, the girls hesitated to come inside.

Seeing their uncertainty, and pretty much understanding the cause of it, Squall nonetheless unlocked his door and prepared to get out.

Rinoa stubbornly locked it back from the front. "No! It's too crowded. Somebody might recognize me!"

Aerith's explanation earlier together with Squall's own knowledge about the Heartilly-Caraway girl was more than enough to explain her actions. However, Squall didn't see any reason for her to be watching Seventh Heaven like it was some bloody crime scene.

"Look. Winhill is a small town. And if you really look closely, you'd see that people in here wouldn't actually care that you're some big shot celebrity in Deling."

When Rinoa stayed glued in the passenger seat in spite of that, Squall rolled his eyes.

"We're natives here, Rin!" Zell helpfully informed her, pertaining to Squall, Irvine and himself, "And they don't care!"

Rinoa didn't exactly understand what that meant.

"Mr. Leonhart, are you absolutely sure that Rinoa's not gonna be mobbed once she steps outside of the car?" Quistis looked like someone who actually pieced the puzzle together, or it can also be possible that she's just really hungry and was running out of patience.

"Yes. I always come here myself. Winhill is pretty much cut off from the big cities, so I doubt that they know who Rinoa is."

"Great!" Selphie manually unlocked her side of the car and jumped out, "Let's go troop! I'm starving."

And off they go, with a begrudging Rinoa, of course.

"Oh hey, Squall! You're in town, I see!"

The small group of six was only partially into the doors when a beautiful and, one must say, very pregnant brunette appeared out of nowhere carrying a coffee pot in her hands. Squall flashed her a warm smile before his friends almost tackled the pregnant woman with big hugs.

"TIFA!" Zell exclaimed.

"Oh look at you! As cute as a button!" Irvine looked at her up and down.

"Hey you fools! Get your grimy hands off my wife!" A spiky blonde head popped from the kitchen partition window, barking at the guys who suddenly had their hands on Tifa's rounded tummy. Rinoa saw that the blonde head came with a toned body of a soldier, which kind of threw her off the loop because he was also dressed haphazardly as a chef.

"You're _still_ with this guy?" Irvine frowned as he continued to rub Tifa's belly under the disapproving glance of her husband.

"Of course." Tifa giggled conspiratorially.

"How disappointing."

The blonde chef threw a dirty towel at Irvine's direction.

Tifa laughed, giving her simmering husband a loving squeeze, "Cloud, baby. You know that he's baiting you, right?"

Cloud mumbled some obscene profanities that made Rinoa laugh.

"Oh." Cloud's irritation melted down a notch upon realizing Rinoa and the girls' presence. His blue eyes blinked at Rinoa for a minute too long that it made her nervous.

He turned to Squall, "New tenants?"

"Yeah. They wanted to have some good authentic Winhill breakfast so we brought them here."

Rinoa and her friends introduced themselves.

"Oh good. Welcome!" Cloud smiled proudly at them, jutting a thumb behind him for them to follow, "Tifa's gonna show you your seats. It's breakfast hour, so it's a little full, but we always have room for friends."

"Thank you, Mr. Strife." Rinoa bowed thankfully that Cloud started to blush.

"That's alright, Miss Rinoa. That's Cloud for you though." The blonde chef turned to shuffle his wife's head, "I'm gonna go back to the kitchen now. Don't work too hard."

Tifa nodded and seated them on the booth at the back, "So what are we having for today folks?"

Everyone politely gave their orders and soon, Tifa was happily walking back to her husband.

"So where are you guys going after breakfast?" Squall casually asked, just for the sake of keeping the conversational ball rolling. Selphie piped in almost immediately.

"Rinoa and I wanted to go to this waterfall that Aerith was talking about last night. She said that it's a highly recommended place and secluded too, but we're a little worried that the storm might have made it deeper than usual."

"Oh, Pinnacle Rocks? You'd be fine. When we were young, Squall, Irvine and I would always go there. We know every inch and every depth, we could go with you if you want." Zell suddenly stood up when Tifa come back bustling with the coffee pot. They began arguing about her working too hard. Tifa huffed and puffed until she was so red that she left them alone. Zell smirked at having won his first argument with a woman in a very long time. Rinoa noted this with an appreciative grin.

"What about turning it into a barbeque? We could bring a portable grill, some steaks and some beer and we'd be set!" Irvine looked at Selphie who was nodding at his every word, "Tell you what? In the spirit of a true Winhill welcome, all you ladies have to do is bring your suit and whatever girly stuff you need and leave the rest of the planning to us!"

"Oh wow, that's so sweet of you, Irvine!" Rinoa flashed him a grateful smile. The others were quick to agree.

"So it's decided then. We'll meet up in the round about at ten. We'll bring a black SUV and we'd convoy to Pinnacle Rocks from there. How's that, Quistis?"

"I've got no problem with that." Quistis sipped her coffee, hiding a smile, "Sounds like fun."

* * *

Ahhh, Pinnacle Rocks.

The gang arrived at the infamous waterfalls at a little pass eleven, because Irvine and Zell belatedly realized that they didn't own a working portable grill, and thus had to buy a new one in the local home goods store, which took a little more time than they would have liked. It was a good thing that they came a little late, however, because by now the sun was a bit higher, its tingly warmth perfectly melding with the slight cold that the storm left at its wake.

The group was clearly getting along well, that not even ten minutes after they arrived in the spot, there was a lot of milling around as they set things up: Selphie and Irvine were choosing the tunes bursting out of the SUV's loud speakers, Zell and Squall 'assembling' (arguing mostly) the grill while Quistis and Rinoa laughed at them in sheer fascination as they set their baskets under the shade of a tree. The meat was slowly cooking in the grill under Zell's supervision when Quistis decided to check things out for herself, leaving Rinoa sitting contently on the blanket, a smile gracing her lips as she looked at the clear blue waters of lake.

_Ahh…this is a good way to spend one's time._

It is not often that her vacations turn out this way, and she was glad that this escape to Winhill proved to be worthwhile. She came here hoping for just a little bit of peace and quiet, just enough to clear her head, and she was beginning to think that somehow, this vacation was what she exactly needed.

"In coming!" A bottle of wine cooler appeared in the center of her vision and Rinoa gasped, grabbing it in time before it fell on her lap. Squall looked satisfied with himself as he plopped next to her, drinking a can of soda himself. Rinoa gave it a suspicious look, just enough for Squall to feel that he had to explain himself, "Designated driver."

"I see..." Rinoa twisted her bottle open and took a sip. The sharp strawberry felt so good on her throat, "Oh, this is great! Thanks!" She suddenly exclaimed.

Squall gave her an acknowledging nod.

They became silent for a bit.

"I'm sorry for this morning!" They blurted out at the same time.

There was some squabbling coming from the grill, the fire and charcoal cracking. Some pop music played gleefully in the background. Still somewhere, Irvine can be heard rapping to the beat of the stereo.

Blue-gray and chocolate brown eyes found themselves turned to each other…

They finally laughed.

"Oh Hyne, I'm really sorry for hitting you! And for calling you names...You really scared me, you know!" Rinoa glanced at him and when she found that she couldn't bear his gaze without making a fool out of herself, she pretended to be immersed by her bottle.

"It's fine. I am sorry too. I eventually found out that my friends dropped me off the night before. I was so wasted that I just fell asleep. Nothing else happened, I swear!"

Rinoa giggled at his panicked tone, now comfortable enough to look back. She met Squall's wonderfully cool blue once more and she blushed. Wow. He really has such delightfully clear eyes.

"Okay! Let's drink to that!"

_Oh dammit, what am I saying? I'm definitely sending the wrong signals!_ Rinoa wanted to kick herself. _Wait. WHAT signals?_ _No. No. No. It's cool. It's not like I'd want to sleep him, right? NO! OF COURSE, I DO! Oh Hyne, just stop! Just click your bottle to his soda can and be done with it!_

They did an awkward toast. Rinoa could have sworn that her face was redder than her strawberry wine cooler.

"So how is Deling City these days?" Squall mumbled.

"Umm. Dark."

Squall snorted behind his can.

"What I mean to say is that it's so-so." Rinoa quickly amended, "You know, Deling City being a usually dreary place and all..."

_Hyne. I'm stuttering. Jeez. I sound like a goofball. This is so embarrassing._

"It wasn't raining when we left the city, so it was a surprise when we found Winhill so under the rain. I haven't even brought my umbrella, now that's a big problem right there." She continued, her heart ringing in her ears.

_WUT? I'm such an idiot._

"I mean, we're going on a vacation and I don't have my umbrella? Hahahaha!" She finished with stiff laugh.

_I'll just jump into the lake right now._

And there was this awkward silence again. Rinoa rubbed her finger on her moistened bottle, feeling so out of sorts. If only those media people can see her right now, maybe they'd realize how different she was from the rebellious girl that they'd continuously portrayed her to be. She often wondered what would happen if they knew…Would have they backed off, seeing how truly clumsy she was? Or truly sheltered? Naïve? She's twenty-five years old, and look at her, flushing like a kid! Or would they see it is as another opportunity to spin some tales from? Get a laugh at her expense?

Rinoa exhaled sharply at this. _Hyne_. There was no point. No point in thinking about what they think of her. Before she lost her guts, she suddenly stood up, her wine cooler falling and rolling across the gingham blanket. She was exhausted from all this thinking…it's been years of suffering this, this fear of disapproval. Or was it fear of rejection? Either way, it's too much!

_I'm sick of it!_

"Rinoa?" Squall looked at the fallen bottle then up to her determined stance.

_I don't care anymore!_

"I'm going for a swim!" Without turning back, she pulled off her dress and ran to the freezing water.

"RINOA!" With widened eyes, Squall shouted as she saw her jump in the air without a moment's hesitation and do the cannonball.

_SPLASH!_

The water was cold! _Dammit! Ahhhhhhh! _Rinoa found her mind screaming as she sank deeper into the blue water. Remembering her lessons, she swung her arms out, swimming up to the surface. She opened her eyes, breaking out of the water, and the first thing that she saw was the blue skies. Then sun high up above. Next, she felt a cool, lazy breeze wafting passed her body…

She felt alive. _She was still alive!_ And to this, without completely understanding the liberating emotion that embraced her, she smiled victoriously with outstretched arms.

"The water's awesome!" She shouted at five faces that looked back at her as if she just lost her mind.

"Come on guys!" She waved at her friends, who were still processing what they witnessed.

Selphie was the first to break into a smile. Nodding in comprehension, she stripped into her buttercup yellow bikini and bounded towards the direction of the lake. Naturally, Irvine followed suit—he was one who never missed a thing. Quistis was next, shooting from Squall's back wearing a one-piece pink suit. Nobody didn't think that she had it in her, but she jumped into the water without any hesitation as well. Zell came next, making whooping sounds and flipping in the air with his blue and red Hawaiian board shorts…

And then it was Squall's turn.

He actually didn't understand what happened, or what was happening, but something…something in Rinoa's determination before running into the water left an impression inside him. He knew that she was nervous around him, it was quite understandable given the misunderstanding that morning, but then, something _just_ happened. Something happened the exact moment she emerged from the lake. Something…(how can he exactly explain this...) beautiful? She had this smile on…the most dazzling one, like a smile that someone carried when they've finally understood the mysteries of the universe. It was infectious, daring, and so uplifting, it was hard to fight the hope that suddenly sprung all over his body and gripped his heart.

"SQUALL! COME ON!"

There it is again, more powerful this time, because at this moment, it was directed at _him_.

"COME ON!" She yelled again.

Everybody started playing around, splashing at the first person that they first saw, sputtering, hollering. Squall found himself grinning as he stood up, stripping off his shirt and tossing it behind him. He still couldn't put a finger on what was exactly happening, all he knew was that there was something…

Something has definitely changed.

"COME ON! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!"

Squall could almost hear her imitating the sound of a cracking whip once more.

He laughed all the way while running towards the lake.


End file.
